Curl up with a good read about your favorite vehicle or a related subject!

I just love a good read. What could be better than reading up on the WW2 jeep or how to work on WW2 era vehicles? You can’t go wrong with this publication. It will have stuff for the novice as well as the old hand.

Automotive Trouble Shooting For World War Two Wheeled Vehicles, Volume 2, is a useful manual for anyone and it takes off where volume one ended! Learn about the engine oil system. Do you know what to look for when rebuilding a block? Problems with valves? Find out how to trouble shoot and adjust the valves for wheeled vehicles. Do you have problems with the clutch rattling? Check this manual out!Worried about your transmission or transfer case making noises? Check out the trouble shooting section. Any noises coming from your propeller shafts, universal joints or axles? Its discussed here. Trouble shooting the wheels, hubs, and rims? Chassis. Steering.Do you have brake problems, including Hydrovac brakes? Its all here and much more.Put a copy in your WW2 truck for those little roadside emergencies! Originally produced by the US Gov’t, Ordnance School, Aberdeen Proving Ground, August, 1945. Edited by Robert Notman. Click on the link above to find out how to order the book.

Maybe if you have a large enough tarpaulin. I guess there wasn’t enough boats. But if you gave a few men a large enough tarpaulin, some poles and maybe some bales of hay–you could float a jeep across a stream. Pretty amazing stuff, if you think about it. And no, I’m not about to take my jeep for a swim anytime soon. I’ll just let it take me to the swimming hole and go for a swim myself.

One of the early (first 70) Bantam jeeps undergoing river stream crossing tests. Those “pontoons” were made by using canvas tarpaulins covering bales of hay, Infantry Journal, May, 1942.

When copy writers are careless with the facts! Original caption, “New 1/4-ton ‘Bantam’ truck at Fort Myer, Virginia,” dated April, 1941. Writers were pretty lose during this time and used “Bantam” to frequently describe the 1/4-ton. With three different 1/4-tons that were very similar in construction it is not difficult to understand the confusion on the part of writers and even servicemen.

I just love the early jeep history, don’t you? How about one of the first jeeps to enter civilian hands?

Ford was the largest and most financially stable war-time producer of the jeep. Their production efforts begin with the Ford GP Pygmy. The Pygmy was equipped with a modified tractor engine rated at 45 hp. It was considered a fairly modern engine for its day.

The Ford GP pictured above is pretty famous. It appeared in an article of Life magazine in 1944. It was one of the first jeeps sold to the public. A mayor in a small town in Kansas purchased it in Chicago for $750 and drove it home. It stayed in the family until the mid 1970s. Eventually it ended up in the Veterans Memorial Museum of Huntsville, Alabama. This is a museum worth visiting!

The Bantam pilot model being put through its paces at Camp Holabird, MD. (photo courtesy of Wesley M Phillippi)

Every vehicle the Army considered purchasing was put through serious testing. The jeep was no exception! Of course back then it hadn’t yet picked up the name “jeep”. Bantam, a little known company outside of true jeep history devotees, was the company to build and deliver the first “jeep”. The Bantam Pilot in the accompany photo is being driven through mud as part of a test to see if it will get stuck.

During the initial testing the military beat the little Bantam hard. It took such a severe beating that eventually the frame was cracked. The military guys were doing crazy stuff like driving the jeep off of a 4 foot high loading dock at forty miles per hour.

According to Major E.P. Hogan of the QMC, the “Howie-Wiley Belly-Flopper” was the only military produced predecessor of the 1/4-ton, 4×4, Truck. The vehicle did not find favor with the Chief of Infantry who was seeking a replacement for the motorcycle and the horse in a light-weight reconnaissance and liaison car. (photo courtesy of Thomas Lynn )